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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “clear cache automatically”

wp.org orders by popularity, so a plugin a host bundled onto millions of sites, or a big-brand one that's slow and mediocre, can sit at the top. Our ranking is built to answer a different question: which of these is actually worth installing. How this works →

For “clear cache automatically”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 4 plugins are pushed down for signals wp.org ignores: errors, a host-installed base, or removal risk.

wp.org search ranks on

Install count (uncapped), the raw star average, freshness, and support. Popularity dominates, so the biggest install base usually wins regardless of how it got there.

We add

A cap on the install boost, volume-weighted ratings, and signals wp.org can't see: whether it throws errors on current PHP, whether the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Clear Cache Everywhere shows at wp.org #7 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI places #6 on merit, 4.8★ from 27821 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #1 2 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #2 3 WP Super Cache 1M+ · 4.3★ (1346) wp.org #3 4 Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too low 5 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #8 ↓3 3 too low 6 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #19 ↑1 13 too low 7 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #11 ↑5 4 too low 8 Powered Cache – Caching and Optimization for WordPress – Easily Improve PageSpeed & Web Vitals Score 3K+ · 4.8★ (58) wp.org #10 ↑7 2 too low 9 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #20 ↓4 11 too low 10 WP REST Cache 10K+ · 4.9★ (42) wp.org #9 ↑1 1 too high 11 Comet Cache 20K+ · 4.4★ (108) wp.org #24 ↓3 13 too low 12 xSpeed Cache: AI-Powered Performance Hub with MCP, Caching & CDN 10K+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #21 9 too low 13 Clear Autoptimize Cache Automatically 4K+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #4 ↓2 9 too high 14 Hestia Nginx Cache 1K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #18 ↓3 4 too low 15 Proxy Cache Purge 50K+ · 4.4★ (26) wp.org #17 ↓3 2 too low 16 Aruba HiSpeed Cache 100K+ · 3.0★ (10) wp.org #6 ↑1 10 too high 17 S Server-Side Cache AutoPurge 10K+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #15 ↓4 2 too high 18 The Cache Purger 1K+ · 4.5★ (6) wp.org #16 ↓3 2 too high 19 Cleavr Clear Cache 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #13 ↓4 6 too high 20 Clear Cache Everywhere 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 ↓1 13 too high 21 Cache Using Gzip 400+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #23 ↓1 2 too low 22 A Automatic Cache Flusher for W3 Total Cache 4K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 ↓4 10 too high 23 Ergonet Cache 3K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↓2 9 too high 24 Pantheon Advanced Page Cache 10K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 ↓2 2 too high

Merit ranking caps the install boost at 1M (wp.org leaves it uncapped), replaces the raw star average with a volume-weighted Bayesian score and a Wilson lower bound, and keeps wp.org's own freshness and compatibility decays. Method from the plugin-directory source; see Meta Trac #8298. Positions are tracked daily from the first visit to a keyword, so the small arrows show movement since tracking began.